In an electronic apparatus, such as a mobile terminal, settings may be provided, for which data is required. A plurality of applications in the electronic apparatus may require access to the data for the settings. For example, an image may in a first application e.g. be data for a wallpaper setting of a display. In a second application the same image may be data for a setting of a phonebook, such as a picture setting of a phonebook entry. The image may be stored at a single location, such as a flash memory. Each of the first and second applications need to manage and keep track of the storage location of the image to be able to access it.
Furthermore, the electronic apparatus may include a plurality of storage locations, e.g. a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module), a Smart card, and/or a cache memory in addition to the flash memory. Settings may be stored at each of the storage locations. For each of the storage locations, different rules and mechanisms may apply for accessing the stored data. Furthermore, each storage location may have multiple rules and mechanisms for storing data and for accessing stored data. Thus, each application that needs access to data stored at a single and/or different storage locations may need to manage multiple rules and mechanisms for managing storage of data. The more applications, storage locations and/or different rules and access mechanisms per storage locations that are implemented, the more complex the management of the data for settings will be.
Furthermore, data for a specific setting may be stored in a remote database accessible through a network. This may make the situation even more complex, as each application that requires access to the data has to be able to communicate, at least indirectly, with the remote database.
To have access to the remote database, and for other communication requirements, the electronic apparatus may include a communication platform, which implements all functions for communicating with the network. The functions of the communication platform may be invisible to a user of the electronic apparatus. The electronic apparatus may also include an operational platform for implementing applications visible to the user. Each of the platforms may be connected to one or several storage locations, wherein data for settings may be stored. The communication platform and the operational platform may be interconnected by e.g. a data channel and a control channel. Communication between the operational platform and the communication platform may be performed according to predetermined rules, provided by e.g. protocols, which may be relatively complex.
Different communication and operational platforms may store settings on different storage locations. For example, in one system, vibrator settings are stored in a memory connected to the communication platform, but in another in a memory connected to the operational platform. Thus, when a manufacturer is changing e.g. a communication platform, the storage location of settings may be changed. Consequently, it may be necessary to update applications on the operational platform to make sure that they are referring to the correct storage location and apply the correct rules and mechanisms for managing the settings data.
One or several applications implemented in the operational platform may require access to data for a setting stored in a storage location connected to the communication platform. Similarly, one or several applications implemented in the communication platform may require access to data for a setting stored in a storage location connected to the operational platform. Thus, not only must each application manage the address to the storage location, but also the predetermined rules, according to which the application may communicate with the platform, to which the storage location is connected. Thus, the management of access to data for a setting may be relatively cumbersome. Also, storage requirements of each application may become relatively large. This is a disadvantage, especially in a portable communication apparatus, wherein the storage capacity may be relatively limited.
It is also possible to store data for a specific setting at multiple storage locations. However, this requires that data stored at multiple locations but pertaining to a single setting are synchronized or mirrored to make sure that the data of the setting at both storage locations are uniform.